With the BBMP’s ban on use of single-use plastics turning out to be ineffective, experts now want the civic body to persuade the State and Union governments to shut down the factories manufacturing single-use plastics.
Solid Waste Management Expert V Ramprasad said that Bengaluru is using single-use plastics, as if there is no ban on them. “The key to any successful ban lies in its implementation. Here for name’s sake, BBMP announced a ban”, Ramprasad said. He said the BBMP did not pursue the ban to see the city free from single-use plastics. Founder member of Bengaluru Praja Vedike, NS Mukunda, said, “In 2016, the BBMP imposed a ban on single-use plastics but hardly cared to enforce it.”
Ramprasad and Mukunda said the BBMP should target the manufacturing units first and then only the vendors who use the banned plastics. They also blamed the attitude of the public, who expect plastic bags for anything they buy, without worrying about the environmental hazards. “BBMP may not have the full power to shut down industries. But it can certainly work with other departments like the Pollution Control Board, State Government and the Union Government to get them shut by fixing a cut-off date, giving enough time for the industries and those who depend on them to shift”, Mukunda suggested.
Almitra Patel, a member of the Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management and a national expert on the Swachh Bharat Mission, said that a ban cannot be a success unless the public is given sufficient alternatives to single-use plastic, as they will continue to rely on it. Almitra said the alternatives should also be economical. When TNIE took up the issue with BBMP Chief Commissioner Maheshwar Rao, he accepted that the civic body is receiving many complaints related to single-use plastic in the city.
“We are enforcing the ban by carrying out raids”, Rao said, adding that they are planning to curb the single-use plastics at the source. “We will request the factories and industries to stop manufacturing single-use plastics,” Rao said. He added that they will be working with Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to tackle the menace.
News Courtesy : The New Indian Express.